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Learning from other women

As I mix colors, map out a plan of how to attack a blank canvas, create shape and line, and piece together each moving part my mind wanders to those who have influenced or taught me. I’m grateful for the encounters and personal relationships of those who have supported and invested in me over the years.

It’s interesting how in this new time of technology boom (I say that because I am feeling old and behind), I find that my influences are changing rapidly. I am able to investigate at the swipe of screen or push of a button. Articles are readily accessible. My influences are a bit less personal but I am able to more quickly find others like me as well as discover more about their art and how they do things.

I’m also learning so much more about women artists. There is a plethora of women artists in history; those who were masters in movements and those artists who silently were missed until recently discovered, remembered and/or given credit for their efforts as artists. Where were these women twenty years ago?

They were right here but in all my years I had no one around me promoting them. During my academic career, I was taught and researched only a few women artists (Cassatt, O’ Keefe, and Kahlo). Out of my many professors, I was taught by only 3 women, only one of whom used the same medium as I do. This is something that has only occurred to me recently.

There are so many women artists in the last ten years that if not for the Internet; I’m not sure how accessible they would be. The article attached is one example of some really cool women I’ve enjoyed learning about and to whom I feel connected. The change in accessing such information has broadened my knowledge and connections in the world. I can see influences in my work and how I see the world with each read or conversation about other artists.